Psychobiological Roots of Early Attachment

ABSTRACT—New laboratory research has revealed a net-work of simple behavioral, physiological, and neural processes that underlie the psychological constructs of at-tachment theory. It has become apparent that the unique features of early infant attachment reflect certain unique features of early infant sensory and motor integration, learning, communication, and motivation, as well as the regulation of biobehavioral systems by the mother–infant interaction. In this article, I will use this new knowledge to answer three major questions that have remained unset-tled in our understanding of early human attachment: What creates an attachment bond? Why is early maternal separation stressful? How can early relationships have lasting effects? I will discuss the implications of these new answers for human infants and for the development o